“The yacht business is good in Indonesia,” says Andy Shorten, who, after having moved to Bali in 2002, put his marine tourism experience and knowledge to use and began establishing the foundations of The Lighthouse Consultancy. “With our current number of visiting yachts, vessels find exactly what they came for: a fantastic trip in a remote location with incredible anchorages, resulting in happy owners and crew.” Keen to know more about business between the Indian and Pacific oceans, SuperYacht Times speaks with Shorten how he spends his time as director of one of Indonesia’s successful superyacht shore support companies.
When a vessel visits Indonesia, our team at The Lighthouse Consultancy can take care of pretty much everything. Superyachts need a general cruising permit to visit Indonesia in addition to the approvals, permissions and tourism tags needed in various cruising regions. By helping with this preparation, we can make sure that the crew does not waste precious time trying to solve issues that just require local language skills and knowledge. It’s our job to make sure extensive plans are in place so that the owners and their guests can concentrate on having a great time!
When executing these plans, we strongly suggest having someone on board to escort the yacht through the region and lead the explorations. At The Lighthouse Consultancy, one of our strongest areas of shore support is the network of experienced yacht guides, who are able to make sure the local officials, communities and village leaders are respected. As you can imagine, a $50 million beautiful superyacht draws considerable attention when cruising through such remote regions!
Feeding the guests and crew is one of the main tasks for our full-time provisions team. A lot of planning goes into ensuring that delicate provisions survive the journey from Bali, this requires special procurement and packing of the items. In some cases, tomatoes, peaches and avocados are individually wrapped for protection!
I absolutely love solving problems! To be faced with a seemingly unwinnable position, but then engineer a scenario where the yacht’s crew feels that they have accomplished their goals, provided an incredible experience for their owners and have left the local community feeling appreciated and respected, gives me immense satisfaction and pride. I’m proud of our team and what we are able to help the owners see. It is especially satisfying working with high-quality yacht crew, that appreciate the challenges of the Asian region but still move forward with respect and positivity. One yacht invited me to fly their helicopter into the crater of the active volcano Mount Rinjani on Lombok which was pretty spectacular! Yachting really does open doors to unique experiences.
Trying to explain the benefits of the yachting industry to people who don’t understand it, but I think this is an industry-wide challenge, rather than one specific to Indonesia. Also, keeping up with the ever-changing Indonesian cruising regulations can be difficult.
The Lighthouse Consultancy
Bali, Indonesia
T: +62 (0) 361 289 587
M: +62 (0) 81 338 732 764
W: www.thelighthouseconsultancy.com